Banana Berry
by One More Disaster
Summary: "Taste the Rainbow" 'verse. A series of character study oneshots about the Yellow Rangers, an episode at a time.


**Title: **Banana Berry  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own any person, place or thing you may recognize.  
**Rating: **T  
**Warnings: **Ranger related violence; language; eventual character death (non-canonical, but based on the death of Thuy Trang, the actress who played Trini Kwan)  
**Series: **Taste the Rainbow  
**Characters: **Trini Kwan, Aisha Campbell, Miss Alicia (Wild West Ranger), Tideus (Alien Ranger), Tanya Sloan, Ashley Hammond, Maya (Lost Galaxy), Kelsey Winslow, Katie Walker, Taylor Earhardt, Dustin Brooks, Kira Ford, A-Squad Yellow (SPD), Z Delgado, Chip Thorn, Ronny Robinson, Lily Chilman, Summer Landsdown, Emily (Samurai) and Gia Moran; with mentions of and appearances by the various other Rangers, Mentors, Allies, Civilians and Villains  
**Spoilers: **eventual for all 20 seasons  
**Author's Note: **So, this is part of an idea that I had a while ago, to do a series of oneshot episode tags focusing on each of the Rangers. This particular piece is focused on the Yellow Rangers.

Let me know what y'all think.

Fae

* * *

**Title: **Day of the Dumpster  
**Character: **Trini Kwan  
**Word Count: **776

Trini watched proudly as her best friend landed a perfect dismount. She clapped as she made her way over to stand next to the younger girl. Most people didn't realize that the two of them weren't the same age. Kim had been in their class for so long that everyone seemed to forget that she hadn't always been.

Despite the whole dumb blonde act Kim put on, she had been smart enough to skip half of kindergarten and first grade entirely, entering into second grade after the Christmas break. No one else, not even Billy- their resident genius- had managed to do that. Granted, that was more because his mother had wanted to keep him around kids his age, so he wouldn't become too geeky.

It hadn't worked entirely, but it was better than it would have been had he skipped directly to fifth grade like the teachers wanted him to. Trini was glad. She had the best group of friends in the world and it wouldn't be the same without Billy. They were always there for each other, despite their differences and occasional disagreement.

She had known all four of them since the first day of second grade, when her family had moved to Angel Grove, but she hadn't become friends with them until a couple of months later, after Jason, Kimberly and Zack had gotten a week's detention because of a confrontation with Bulk and Skull. She had hung out with Billy during recess that week, the two of them being lonely together, and afterwards, he had introduced her to his friends.

Jason had been leery of including her in their circle, but Kimberly had been excited to have another girl in the group and had turned large, puppy dog eyes on him. He had folded like a house of cards, and the five of them had been inseparable since, especially after Kimberly got jumped ahead to join the rest of them in second grade.

Kim had quickly grown to be her best friend, though she was well aware of the fact that Jason held that title for the younger girl. She wasn't sure what the story was behind that, but didn't pry, letting them have their secrets.

They had their arguments, of course. Everyone did, but those fights just made them stronger. Nothing would be able to separate them. Friends forever.

She drew herself back to the present, congratulating Kim on an excellent routine, only to be rudely distracted by Bulk and Skull. Oh, how she wished those two would get it through their thick skulls that she and Kim weren't interested in them. At least- she thought as the two bullies rushed them, only to end up flat on their backs on the mats- Bulk had settled his attention on her, leaving Skull to pester Kimberly.

It wasn't that she doubted Kim's ability to protect herself. She had seen the younger girl kick Jason's ass when she was particularly upset with him. It's just that Bulk was so much bigger than the petite gymnast was. Crueler, too. Skull was simply a follower and was easily dissuaded when rejected. Bulk, on the other hand, was the instigator and it often took some form of public humiliation to get him to back off. Even then, he was always back the next day.

After dealing with the bullies- (and thanking Zack for his help, even if it hadn't ended up being necessary)- they headed into the locker room so Kim could shower and change. They made it out to their table at the railing in time to watch Billy's first karate class. Zack joined them and they began attempting to do homework. They didn't get too far, too busy watching Jason and Billy.

Trini winced at Billy's frustration while running through the kata with Jason. She felt horrible for her friend. He could be good at karate. He'd never be as good as Jason, of course, but he could still be good in his own right. It was a very structured sport and something he could do well at if he could just stop psyching himself out.

None of them could stop their smiles at the way Jason provided Bulk with the means to humiliate himself, with Kim laughing outright. They all knew Jason was hiding his own amusement, just like they all knew that Bulk would be back again tomorrow, ready for the whole dance to start up all over again.

Honestly, when would those two bullies ever learn?

She shook her head with a fond smile as Jason gave Kim's shoulder a squeeze before following Billy to the locker room for a shower.


End file.
